Alvin Lee

Phenomenal rock guitarist

In the summer of 1969, when people talked frequently and without irony about guitar gods, the British blues rocker Alvin Lee secured his place on Mount Olympus with a single scorching performance at the Woodstock music festival. At the time his group, Ten Years After, was a well-regarded but low-profile platoon in the army of U.K. blues bands marching in the wake of Eric Clapton--including Led Zeppelin, the Jeff Beck Group and Fleetwood Mac. But then his fast-talking, low-moaning rendition of "I'm Going Home," 11-plus minutes of ferocious rock prestidigitation, became a high point of the Woodstock movie and album. That...